


blue skies are coming

by tetsuyacchi



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gay Male Character, M/M, Momoi Shoji, Protective Siblings, Romance, Self-Indulgent, basketball idiots fall in love, gay female character, omc is Momoi's twin, super self-indulgent nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28864737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tetsuyacchi/pseuds/tetsuyacchi
Summary: Being in love was a wonderful experience that Shoji, enamoured with a certain blue-haired phantom, would describe as a 'journey he never wanted to see the end of'.Juggling broken friendships in such a competitive and consuming sport as basketball could only lead to disaster, and being stood on the opposite side of the court can make the distance seem vast. 'The blue skies are coming' Satsuki had whispered to him once, and it was a line he held dear ever since.Blue skies were coming, and with them followed the warmth of the sun.
Relationships: Aida Riko/Momoi Satsuki, Kuroko Tetsuya/Original Male Character(s), Momoi Satsuki & Momoi Shoji
Kudos: 7





	blue skies are coming

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the tags, this fic is wholly self-indulgent and catered (almost a ridiculous amount) to my personal tastes and uncontrollable whimsy. Updates will be sporadic at best - I barely talked myself into uploading what was already written.
> 
> Thanks for taking a moment of your time to indulge in the sin that is, Momoi Shoji.

Laying on the concrete rooftop, pink eyes watched the shifting sky above, entranced with the way the clouds moved ever so slowly across the bright blue sky. The temperature was warm, meaning the boy was only dressed in his school shirt, tie loosened and the first few buttons undone.

It was moments like these that he enjoyed the simplicity of life. While he certainly had many things which worried him, staring up into the sky made everything else feel so much smaller in comparison. It made him feel like a tiny ant watching all the humans around them going on about their day, diminishing his troubles to a state where he could look at them without anxiety.

He was contemplating what to do next, knowing whatever choice he decided to take concerning his problems, that it may just affect his relationships with his closest friends. “What should I do?” he murmured to himself. “Every route seems to lead to-”

“Jiji!”

The call interrupted his line of thinking. “Jiji, where are you?” a sweet voice called out and the boy blinked at the intrusion into his silence.

“Satsuki, pipe down, will ya? I don’t fancy going deaf at my age,” a gruff voice complained and the boy sighed at their usual arguing.

Not wanting to move from his position, the boy simply called out to them both. “Up here.”

Footsteps followed his words, the metal of the ladder leading to the rooftop creaked as they ascended. Soon, bright pink hair the exact same shade as that atop his head invaded his vision, alongside a concerned delicate face only a touch more feminine than his own.

“There you are! I was so worried when I couldn’t find you, Jiji,” the girl said with relief, a bright smile taking over her face as she extended a hand toward him.

The boy – Shoji – looked at the concern on his twin’s face and felt guilt settle within his stomach. He never wanted his sister to look that way, especially because of something he’d done. He took her hand with a smile, pushing away his concerns for now.

“Yeah, sorry. I just wanted some quiet.”

“Tch, could have at least invited me, Sho. If I knew you were bunking off I would’ve joined you,” Aomine said lazily. The tall boy was leaning against the fencing that surrounded the rooftop with a lazy expression on his face.

The corner of Shoji’s lips curled briefly at his friend’s sloth-like behaviour, humming a vaguely sounded agreement. He knew just how lazy the other boy was and didn’t want to encourage that kind of behaviour any more than he did. _However unintentional on his part_. Aomine had already stretched Shoji’s patience thin when it came to his tendency of ditching club activities. He could feel the approach of a deep, long sigh – the kind which came from the depth of your lungs and from a history of repressed emotional stress. He held it in, for now.

“What time is it?” he asked instead. Just how long had he been sat up here, wiling his time away thinking nothing of importance?

Satsuki flicked open her phone and called out the time. Shoji blinked, realising that he’d missed most of his morning classes. _Oops. So much for being a good influence on Daiki._

“Ahh, guess I’ll have to ask for notes again.”

“Don’t worry, Jiji! I’ve already photocopied my own for you!” Satsuki said with a bright smile and Shoji felt his heart warm at his sister’s compassionate thinking.

“See this is why he’s so lazy, Satsuki. You do everything for him,” Aomine pointed out but quietened down at the girl’s glare. “That’s cheap coming from _you_! Anyone would think I’m your mom!”

Shoji snickered at Aomine’s pout. “Thanks, Tsuki, you’re too good to me.” _And saved me from an embarrassing reality-check on my hypocritical tendencies._

Satsuki returned back to her bright grin and waved away his thanks. “No problem! It’s what a big sister should do!”

He barely refrained from rolling his eyes at her words, having given up pointing out how she was only _six minutes_ older than him and that that didn’t mean she had to take on the elder sibling role. Especially considering the differences in their heights that made Shoji look the eldest between them. Who would know that the tiny female Momoi was the big sister when Shoji stood at least a head taller than her?

However, Shoji could tell the girl enjoyed having somebody to look after as evidence by how she also treated Aomine the same despite never receiving many thanks from the tanned boy. Really, the three best friends were more like siblings, with the twins having taken Aomine into their tight-knit circle since they were children.

Aomine was rough around the edges and Shoji still had old wounds that hadn’t healed with the boy, but at the end of the day, he was like a brother to the pink-haired twins and that meant, no matter how much of an asshole he was, Shoji still _cared_.

“Can we go, now? We’re going to miss lunch,” Aomine moaned and Shoji’s grumbling stomach agreed. He quickly picked up his bag and nodded, following them both as they descended down the ladder and back into the school building. The school corridor was mostly empty, with students busy either eating in the cafeteria or outside in the sun.

Aomine left for the lunch line as soon as they entered, his tall form easily seen pushing through to the front, while the twins went to find a table to sit. Shoji was content watching the people around him chatting while he waited for his friend to come back with their food, but his attention was caught when a pink phone was shoved into his face. Blinking at the bright screen, Shoji focused his eyes to see a web page open displaying a map. The location highlighted was of a gym named ‘Aida Sports Gym’.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“I heard from some little birdies that _Seirin_ basketball team will be practising pool drills after school today,” Satsuki said with a false nonchalant tone, but Shoji could read his sister’s tone and recognised the glint in her eye.

“And?” he prompted.

Satsuki gave her brother a knowing smirk, “Tetsu-kun will be there,” she paused for dramatic effect before whispering the finishing killer-move, “in only _swim shorts_ ~”

Shoji gulped at the mental image, swearing internally when he saw Satsuki smile triumphantly, knowing she’d caught his immediate interest. “ _And?_ ” he repeated, trying to pretend he didn’t care.

“Oh don’t act innocent with me, Jiji. I’m your sister, give me a little credit, I know how you feel about him. It’s not like you don’t announce it to everybody you meet.”

“Putting my gay crisis aside, I’m asking why you’re even telling me about this,” he stressed. “What? Are you just trying to give me some new dream material or something? Because – _ew_ , siblings don’t do that, Tsuki.”

Satsuki gave him a _look_ , the one she used on Aomine when he was being particularly dull-headed and simply because Shoji never wanted to be lumped into the same category as _Aomine_ in the intelligence department, he swallowed down his further retorts and sighed. “Fine, I’ll go.”

She smirked at his easy compliance and leant in to whisper. “I planned on going to scout Tetsu-kun’s new team for intel – not that I don’t already know everything about them – but I heard they have a new _ace_.” Her last word was stressed and Shoji new what she really meant.

Seirin had a new ace and so, Kuroko now had a new _light_.

“Have you told Daiki?”

Satsuki’s look was enough to know she hadn’t, though both were sure the tanned male had to have guessed as much already. Aomine may act dumb most of the time, but the Momoi twins knew he was passionate and insightful when it came to the things he cared about, namely his friends and basketball. Shoji hoped he never had to have that conversation with his friend, wanting to skip the awkwardness that came about whenever Aomine and feelings were involved.

“When are you leaving?” Shoji asked his sister, who grinned at his interest. “Straight after our last class. We have math together so we can leave without Dai-kun knowing.”

“He’s likely to go up to the rooftop to sleep anyway,” Shoji pointed out and Satsuki nodded.

“And what are we going to say if we’re spotted?”

“We’re going to introduce ourselves, of course,” the girl said as though that explained everything. And to be honest, it did. Neither twin was particularly shy when it came to meeting new people, their bubbly personalities allowed them to get along with most people they met.

“Are you sure you’re not going just to spy on their female coach?” he asked deadpan, knowing his sister’s weakness for pretty girls. She was almost too predictable. “Don’t play your usual games if you do like her, I _know_ how you get.” He sent her a pointed look, remembering the countless times she had gotten carried away and covered up her embarrassment by teasing a girl she’d liked.

Satsuki slapped his arm in response, doing a bad job at hiding her blush. “No! It’s not about me…and even if they do have a female manager that’s kind of cute – that’s not the point!” Her anxious ramblings were too funny and he let out an amused chuckle.

“Plus, I have a… _surprise_ for you when we get back,” Satsuki whispered with a mischievous look in her eyes that, for anybody else, would spell trouble, but for the equally mischievous Shoji, he grinned back and leant in further. His grin widened as his sister whispered her plan into his ear, his eyes glittering with excitement.

“Oh, Tsuki, you’re _brilliant_.”

. . .

The members of Seirin’s basketball team panted harshly as they continued following their coach’s hellish training schedule, trying not to make it obvious that they hated every new demand that came out of her mouth. Kagami was sat on the bench watching his teammates enviously, wishing he could participate alongside them, but was instead being forced to sit out due to his leg injury.

Aida Riko stood at the side of the pool wearing her swim top and shorts, watching the boys in her team performing their drills with shrewd eyes. They were all breathing hard and sweating despite being submerged in the refreshing water, their muscles aching from the squats they were being forced to perform.

They were taking a short break when a lovely feminine voice was heard throughout the room, “What a cute dog!”

The boys all looked up in confusion but froze at the sight that greeted them, their faces turning a bright red at the sight of two beautiful girls in bikinis.

Stood side by side were a pair of identical-looking girls with sakura-pink hair and matching eyes, their toned and slim bodies adorned in cute aqua and blue two-piece bikinis. While their appearances were identical, their height difference was much more obvious, with the shortest being a head smaller than the other.

The smaller girl had waist-length, straight hair and wore a skimpy aqua green bikini that exemplified her large chest. While the taller girl had no visible cleavage, the ruffled pale-blue bikini she wore allowed the viewer to focus on her tiny waist and shapely legs that seemingly went on for miles. Her hair was shorter on top and curled slightly at the sides, with two long strips falling to her waist.

Both girls were flushed at the sight of the cute puppy that was sat on the poolside, bringing a lovely flush to their otherwise pale complexions.

In response, the entire male basketball team were struggling to contain the blood rushing from their noses at the sudden erotic sight. _‘Who are these angels?’_ was the thought running rampant in all of their minds, _‘We’ve died and reached heaven!’_

“Oh, Momoi-san, Shoji-kun. Hello,” a calm voice spoke up from within the pool and the entire room’s occupants turned to look at the blue-haired player.

“You know them?” a startled Furihata asked, almost with a tone of disbelief. He spoke pretty much the collective thought of his entire team.

“Who are you?” Riko asked with a frown, not liking that a couple of girls had interrupted their practice with such casual confidence and disregard for privacy!

Her eyes focused on the one girl’s huge breasts and her face flushed in embarrassment, her arms moving in an attempt to cover her own lack of chest. When she saw the other girl however, she felt even more ashamed. _How could she project so much feminine beauty without any cleavage to boast of!?_

The first girl hummed as she put a finger to her lips, thinking of a sufficient answer but when her pink eyes turned to her body-double, the answer was spoken from different lips. The taller girl took a confident step forward, her hands linked loosely behind her back so that her slim figure was on full display.

“I’m Tetsuya’s girlfriend! A pleasure to meet you!” she said with a cheerful grin, giving the entire team a peace sign.

The room was silent for a moment while they took in her words but they all exclaimed their shock in unison as the words finally sunk in. “ ** _Girlfriend!?_** ”

Both girls giggled at their expressions and when the aforementioned boy got out of the water, the self-proclaimed girlfriend ran to his side and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head upon his soft hair and cooing his name. She was like a dog, clinging to its master after a long day of work, where the poor puppy had had to spend its day alone, craving affection.

The Seirin basketball team was in a state of deep shock, not expecting their timid and monotone player to have scored such a beautiful girlfriend.

“No way…” “Kuroko!?” “Damn him…I’m totally jealous.” “Well, I do kind of like the other one more…her chest is...” the last utter got a scathing glare from Riko, shutting them all up.

“We couldn’t wait for the championship league so we came early. It’s been so long since we’ve seen Tetsu-kun and Jiji couldn’t wait,” the other girl finally spoke up. “I’m Momoi Satsuki, pleased to meet you~”

Riko was a mixture of frustration and embarrassment at their arrival. She couldn’t help but compare herself to the beauty in front of her, and pursed her lips, deciding to stick with her feelings of annoyance for now. “What do you mean you couldn’t wait for the championship league?”

The boys, however, were not listening one bit to Riko’s words and were too focused on the sight of Kuroko being smothered by his ‘girlfriend’. The girl was clinging to his body and smiling down at him with bright pink eyes while Kuroko stood there, his usual blank expression giving nothing away.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Kuroko!” Hyuga said with a tinge of jealously. _And what’s with that height difference_!? he couldn’t help but add mentally.

“I don’t. Momoi-san and Shoji-kun were our old managers in Teikō.”

“ _Eh?_ But-” the boys were confused at his clear dismissal and even more surprised that the girl almost strangling him with her arms didn’t take offence at his rejection, only smiling at him with clear affection.

“ _Tet-su-ya~_ I’ve missed you!” she sang and grinned when the boy reached up to pat the top of her pink hair, basking in the attention. “I missed you too, Shoji-kun.” He looked down at her scantily clad form and blinked. “Why are you dressed like this?”

Shoji only grinned and replied with no embarrassment whatsoever. “To impress you, of course.” She stepped back and struck a pose that showed off her revealing outfit in the most flirtatious manner. The sheer eroticism sent many of the males into their second round of spontaneous nosebleeds, while Kuroko simply blinked at the enticing image laid out for him, seemingly unaffected.

“Oh. You look very nice,” he complimented.

Shoji’s face flushed pink and she cupped her face into her hands. “ _Tetsuya_! You’ll get me all excited if you say stuff like that!”

The rest of the team watched them both blankly, not understanding the weird dynamic between the two. “He hardly complimented her…” Izuki pointed out and Hyuga nodded. “Yet she’s all flustered like he proposed or something.”

“Ah, is this true love?!” Koganei shouted.

Kagami had remained sitting throughout the entire thing, watching the proceedings with a raised brow. He somehow managed to look intrigued and yet totally uninterested at the same time. _Perhaps it was the eyebrows?_

“Huh? But why Kuroko? Don’t you find him dull and boring!?” one teammate asked the question they were all thinking, not realising their comment could be considered quite rude. Though Kuroko remained unfazed, the girl turned to them all with a shocked expression.

“Boring? Tetsuya’s the best! He’s handsome and pulls the most endearing faces when you manage to catch him off guard… and so serious when it comes to basketball! How could I _not_ like him? Plus, he gave my sister a popsicle…” she reminisced.

At their blank expressions, he told them the story of when Kuroko had innocently given Satsuki the winning popsicle stick, brightening the girl up after the horrible day she’d had. Shoji had found the boy’s polite act so gentlemanly he’d instantly fell in love, gushing to his sister that he’d found his prince charming and he came packaged in a delightfully cute, blue-haired boy.

He relayed such events to the stunned crowd in front of him, who didn’t seem moved at all. “What kind of lame story is that..” one of them whispered none too quietly.

“Shoji-kun cares a lot about his sister,” Kuroko explained to his teammates.

The words were supposed to explain the situation, despite _still_ not addressing the fact that the girl had just admitted to being _in love with him_. Kuroko’s words had captured their attention, for sure, but not for the reason he’d intended.

“Wait a minute…” Koganei uttered before the boys all came to a sudden realisation, turning to look at the ‘girl’ clinging to Kuroko’s arm with wide eyes.

“ ** _His!?_** ”

Kuroko looked blankly at their incredulous faces while Satsuki giggled at their reactions, knowing something like this would happen. She had been the one to come up with the plan, after all. She loved seeing people’s reactions to the _ultimate reveal_. With a finger pressed to her lips and eyes narrowed in devilish humour, she tried to maintain the delighted cackle from spilling forth.

Shoji smiled at their stunned expressions and waved cutely, “Sorry to trick you all, though I do consider myself Tetsuya’s girlfriend…or _boyfriend_ , if he’d prefer~” he said, smiling at Kuroko cutely. “I’d be whatever he wanted me to – preferably his husband or wife, someday soon.”

“Shoji-kun is Momoi-san’s twin brother,” Kuroko explained to his teammates, once again refusing to even acknowledge the overt and blatant insinuations the other was making about their love life. Not that the newly revealed boy seemed to care, too busy basking in his _darling’s_ attention and taking equal delight as his sister in the team’s shocked uproar.

Even Kagami had reeled back at the reveal, his red eyes trailing across the boy’s very exposed and _soft_ body. He turned away with pink cheeks.

“T-Then why are you- um, wearing that?” Hyuga asked, staring at Shoji’s body and looking away quickly, unable to hide his blush. However, turning away only brought his attention onto the boy’s sister and her _extremely generous_ cleavage, which caused his cheeks to darken even further.

Satsuki ran to stand beside her brother, clinging onto him much in the same way he was to Kuroko. The sight of them both together sent the boys into a further frenzy as Satsuki’s large breasts looked like they were threatening to burst free from her tiny bikini top.

“Jiji likes wearing whatever he fancies that day, but doesn’t he look great? That’s my Jiji, so cute~” she cooed to her brother, rubbing her cheek along the exposed skin of his arm. Like a mother cat staking its claim upon her young.

 _‘Brother complex_ ’ the entire team thought with an animated sweatdrop.

“Excuse me!” Riko shouted out to get everybody’s attention. She looked pointedly between the twins with an unamused expression. “Can you tell me what you’re doing barging into our practice time? Are you trying to spy on us?”

Satsuki stifled a giggle at her demanding tone and looked the girl up and down. “Don’t worry barely-B, we don’t have any need to spy on our opponents~” she said with a lilting voice, intentionally trying to tease the female coach. Riko felt her blood pressure spike dangerously high and the boys, who had all gotten out of the pool inched away from her ire, not wanting to be in the firing line.

“Tsuki, play nice,” Shoji warned and only got a hand wave in reply, his sister dismissing his concern.

“Besides, I already know everything there is~” Satsuki continued, eyeing all of the team one by one, sending them into nervous shuffling. “There’s the club captain and clutch shooter, Hyuga-san. Eagle-eyed point guard, Izuki-san. The silent hook-shooter Mitobe-san and the power forward with incredible jumping power, Kagami-kun!” She glanced in the direction of the remaining two players, “Oh, also Koganei-san and Tsuchida-san.”

Both boys’ faces blanked at her dismissive tone while the rest became more on-guard with Satsuki’s on-point analysis of their titles. She even showed knowledge of their particular talents… It was quite obvious that she meant her earlier words and was _not_ here to scout out the competition. Otherwise, she would have been wise to keep such knowledge to herself. No, instead, she had willingly displayed her hand brazenly, confident that the cards she held could not be beaten.

“And saving the best for last!” Shoji chimed in, tightening his hold around Kuroko’s shoulders and smiling beautifully at the deadpan boy. “The Phantom sixth man, Kuroko Tetsuya~”

Kuroko nodded his head at his inclusion, “Thank you, Shoji-kun.”

“ _Hmm~_ No problem, Tetsuya!” Shoji replied, practically radiating happiness. Those around them could almost _see_ the sparkles dancing around his grinning face.

“Momoi-san,” Kuroko now addressed, getting the girl’s attention away from the flushed female coach. “Did you both really go to Aomine-kun’s school?”

The mention of the tanned male’s name soured the siblings' mood a little, getting small frowns from them both. Shoji loosened his grip on Kuroko, instead, wrapping his arms around his own exposed stomach, feeling awkward at the conversation topic. He knew the atmosphere would become tense whenever Aomine was mentioned around Kuroko or vice-versa and didn’t like being involved in such drama. It wasn’t an enjoyable situation to be stuck in, where the two boys he cared most about in the world were directly opposed to one another when they had once been so happily linked.

Satsuki sighed, nodding her head sorrowfully. She glanced at her brother and a sad smile crossed her face. “You know, Tetsu-kun, Shoji was so upset he couldn’t follow you to Seirin.” Kuroko’s eyes widened slightly at the news, blue eyes turning to look at the sombre Shoji, who was actually looking away from him.

“But…you know how Dai-kun is. I couldn’t leave him on his own otherwise who knows what he’d do?” she lamented and Kuroko understood her worry. The tanned boy was known for being a trouble magnet, always making life difficult with his brash attitude and lazy demeanour.

“And once I said I was following Dai-kun to Tōō, Shoji did too.”

“I just couldn’t leave Tsuki, no matter if Daiki was going to be there. You understand don’t you, Tetsu?” Shoji asked softly, looking at the boy with sad eyes. “He isn’t in the right frame of mind to be looking after anybody. He can barely do so for himself.” Kuroko nodded his head, reaching to pat the soft pink locks once again, his movements slow yet meaningful. “I understand, Shoji-kun. Please do not be sad. I’m glad Aomine-kun has both of you to look out for him.”

Shoji bit his lip at the attention and couldn’t refrain his squeal of joy, bringing the male into another hug, rubbing his cheek against Kuroko’s, and cooing his name. “Ah~ you’re going to kill me, Tetsuya. When did you learn to be so smooth? You’re not practising your moves on somebody else, are you? You can’t cheat on me like that!”

“I do not flirt with anybody, Shoji-kun,” Kuroko reassured, conveniently leaving out the part where he addressed the fact that they were _not_ actually dating. The rest of the team watched on blankly. It seemed the two were masters in playing a game of intentional obliviousness and ignorance.

Satsuki had moved to crouch in front of the puppy they’d first seen upon entering the room, reaching out a hand to pet it. She pouted when the dog turned its head away from her, a cute pout on its face. “Aw, I’m not mean~” she cooed, coaxing the dog to turn her way. “It looks just like you,” she said toward Kuroko.

“He’s called Nigō.”

“Nigō?” she asked and Kuroko nodded. “Tetsuya Nigō.”

Shoji’s eyes lit up at the cute nickname and he untangled himself from Kuroko to crouch down beside the dog alongside his sister, both twins cooing at the adorable puppy who was a twin of his master.

“Nigō~” Shoji sang and squealed when the dog turned to peek at the boy, tentatively reaching out and licking his extended hand. “Ah! He loves me! That’s a good sign, right? When the kids like you?” he asked his sister rhetorically. He leaned in further, nose and snout almost touching. “Nigō, tell your master to love me too, okay?”

Satsuki giggled at her brother’s antics while the team only sweat-dropped further, feeling like their training session had derailed spectacularly as they watched the pink-haired twins coo over the tiny husky dog.

Realising that they weren’t going to get anything further done, Riko sighed and called the practice to an end, commanding all the boys to go into the dressing room to change back into their regular clothing. Kagami had immediately gone outside, muttering about needing some ‘fresh air’ and Kuroko sat down on the poolside bench with the Momoi twins beside him.

There was only silence for the first few moments, none of the trio knowing quite what to say. It was eventually broken by Satsuki, who congratulated the boy on his team’s advancement to the championship league.

“You’ll both be going too, right?”

The girl rose her brows in shock, “Huh? Did we already tell you?”

“You said you couldn’t wait until the championship league,” he pointed out and Satsuki laughed at just how observant the boy was. As usual.

“Nothing slips by you, huh.”

“Hm,” he nodded.

Satsuki leant back and sighed as she thought about just what to say in response. Shoji decided to speak up for his struggling sister. “The next time we see each other…we’ll be on opposite benches,” he realised sadly. He looked at the other boy with a sad smile, “I wish it could have been different.”

Kuroko stared into Shoji’s eyes for a moment before nodding back. He didn’t smile but his eyes became slightly brighter in response, which his friends knew was his own way of smiling. “Me too.”

“We watched a video of your match against Midorin,” Satsuki mentioned. “It was great, you both gave it your all…Kagami-kun,” she sighed quietly before turning to them both with a bittersweet smile. “He plays just like _he_ did before.”

Shoji and Kuroko became tense at the reminder of just how much their friend had changed since their middle school days and Shoji frowned in sadness as he compared the Aomine he knew _now_ to the grinning, energetic boy he had been friends with since childhood. Because both twins were with the teen every day, they had become somewhat desensitised to his drastic personality shift, however, it was times like these where they reminisced on their past and saw the consequences of his aggressive attitude, that they were slapped with the startling nature of his change.

Shoji fiddled with his hands at the upsetting thought, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the emotional turn their conversation had taken. “Watching the two of you play together…it felt like we were back in Teikō,” Shoji admitted softly. “Not split apart in so many directions…not _competing_ against one another.”

Kuroko glanced sideways at the boy, taking in his downturn expression and anxious hand movements. He reached out a hand to stop the nervous habit and instead got the male’s full attention as he flushed at their contact.

“He started playing basketball by himself…I hoped that losing would make him change, but nobody comes close to his skill,” Satsuki lamented, staring off into the pool with distant eyes.

“Would he change?” Kuroko asked calmly, still staring straight at Shoji despite answering Satsuki’s lamentation.

“Huh?”

“I understand Aomine-kun’s strength, but...if someone were to stop him, would he change?”

“But, Aomine can’t lose, Tetsu-kun. Even alone he can beat his opponents,” Satsuki said with sadness. Despite wishing more than anything for her friend’s happiness and success, she couldn’t help but grasp onto any chance that he may someday learn to become humble and enjoy basketball again.

“I wouldn’t be fighting alone,” Kuroko refuted with a determined expression. He stood and faced both twins seriously. “I will have my team with me, and together we _will_ beat Aomine-kun. I promise.”

Shoji and Satsuki were speechless at the sheer determination shining in his eyes and the male twin felt a shiver run through his body at the steely gaze. _Could he do it? Could he win and bring Daiki back from the darkness he’d closed himself in?_

“Tetsu-kun…” Satsuki said in shock, surprised by his bold statement.

Shoji sighed and with a fond smile, spoke the words that he felt true from his heart. “If it’s Tetsuya then I’ll believe it. I believe in you. Bring Daiki back to us.”

Kuroko stared into his eyes and nodded once, determined. “I will.”

And if Shoji felt himself fall a little more in love with the blue-haired boy in front of him? Well, nobody but himself needed to know that. His rapidly beating heart was proof enough.


End file.
